


Even If I Don't See You

by TaraHarkon



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, F/M, Reclaimer Lup, Slow Romance, Telepathy, Temporary Amnesia, Umbrastaff Barry, slowburn part two electric boogaloo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:33:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22188685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraHarkon/pseuds/TaraHarkon
Summary: Lup's grip on the handle tightened and she shrugged a little, holding the umbrella closer. She didn't know why she wanted it so badly, why she didn't want to let it go, but she did.------Lup finds the Umbrastaff and joins the Bureau of Balance with her brother at her side. But why does she feel a sense of loneliness she can't shake? What's missing?
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Lup
Comments: 5
Kudos: 48





	1. Wave Echo Cave, Phandalin, and the Moon

This far into Wave Echo Cave, things were dark and uncomfortable. It was damp, with the periodic sound of water dripping down the walls. The small group stayed close to each other, with the orc and one of the two dwarves bickering as they approached a massive vault door. The two elves near the back of the group were laughing about something or other when one of them stopped, looking around the room. His ears flicked curiously and he nudged his sister.

"Check this out."

He strode away from the group, looking over a skeleton that sat leaning against the wall. His sister followed a moment later, eye brow raised as she looked it over.

"Looks like your skelebro's got a cane or something." She leaned down a little, her own ears pressed back. "I don't get it though. It's like he just sat down here and died. Who does that?"

He shrugged.

"Who wears a robe with no pants? Although, I kinda like it. The robe, I mean. It's a good look."

She rolled her eyes and then turned back to the group.

"Hey Merle, Taako found some thing over here. Come make sure it's not cursed."

Merle grumbled to himself as he walked over. Then he too leaned in to look at the staff. With a shrug, he grabbed it by the handle to pull it out. There was a moment where nothing happened, where the air felt tight and the room was overly quiet. Then crackling red energy launched Merle across the room. He slammed into the wall and slid down, laying there for a moment. Taako looked back and then shrugged, grabbing the handle as well. The same red energy crackled around his hand for a moment, seeming uncertain. Then he yelped and pulled his hand back.

"It bit me!"

Taako stood there for a moment, looking startled as he rubbed his hand. Lup watched him and then look back at the curved handle of the cane. Something about it seemed familiar. Something about it seemed like it answered a question she'd been unable to form properly, let alone answer. Then she put her own hand on the handle and slowly closed her fingers around the wood. She expected to see the same red energy crackling over her skin, she half-expected to be thrown or bit or something. But nothing happened. Nothing happened, nothing hurt. It just felt almost like a hug.

She pulled it free, slowly revealing the bright red cloth of an umbrella. It fitted perfectly in her hand, like it had been made to sit there, and the weight was welcome. She stood there, holding it out with a smile on her face. Then she realized the entire group was looking at her and lowered it again.

"What?"

Taako gestured at the umbrella in her hand.

"You just watched that thing throw Merle across the room and it fuckin' bit me. And then you decided you should grab it. Makes perfect sense."

Lup's grip on the handle tightened and she shrugged a little, holding the umbrella closer. She didn't know why she wanted it so badly, why she didn't want to let it go, but she did.

"I like it. It's got... you know, a real good aesthetic. Goes with my whole deal, you know?"

Taako's ears flicked back and he rolled his eyes.

"You look like a clown."

"But like... a cool clown, right?"

Then the bantering stopped as Merle and Gundren got the vault opened. Eyes wide, Lup stared into the room, feeling her stomach drop out as she stared at what looked like a floor of black glass. A single, small figured stood at the center, blackened and charred, and holding one hand aloft with a golden gauntlet raised high. Something about it called to her and made her feel ill in equal parts. Like seeing a memory she'd tried to forget but not being able to place it fully. Somehow, she was certain that gauntlet was extremely bad news.

Lup opened her mouth to speak, her ears pressed back and her grip on the umbrella so tight her knuckles were white. But before she could get more than a "hey" out, Gundren was moving forward.

"What the hell is this? Where's the treasure?"

He snatched the gauntlet up even as both Killian and Lup yelled for him not to. Then he slid it on, glaring at them. This was the last treasure of the Rockseekers, it seemed. And he was the last living Rockseeker in Phandalin, ergo it was his. And there was no way he was going to give it up just because two people he didn't know told him to. That much was obvious. 

Things were tense as they walked back to the town together, with Killian trying to talk Gundren into taking the gauntlet off the entire way. Lup stayed near the back of the group, still feeling uncomfortable about the whole thing. Only she didn't know why. She'd never seen this thing before, right? She didn't even know what it was called or what it could do. And yet, she was absolutely completely sure this thing was bad news. Maybe even the worst kind of news. So she stayed close to her brother, kept him back from the others. If it was a weapon, she didn't want to find out because one of them got blasted. 

"Alright," Magnus said as they got back into Phandalin proper. "You got your glove. That means we're done, right? We're gonna get paid and we can just leave, right?"

There was a moment of quiet before an arrow slammed into a nearby building and Taako turned to see where it had come from. Lup's gaze followed his and then both twins swore. It was the orc boy they'd seen before, the one they'd helped. And he was still holding a bow, putting another arrow to the string as he looked at Gundren. For his part, Gundren didn't just look furious, he was literally steaming with flames starting to form around the gauntlet he was wearing.

Lup grabbed Taako's arm, her ears pinned back and her heart pounding in her chest. This was bad. This was extremely bad. This was... this was... Lup didn't know why this left her with a gnawing, empty feeling in her chest and a feeling like the weight of the world on her shoulders, but it did and she needed to be anywhere but here.

"We need to go, Ko. Now."

He gestured towards Gundren, as Magnus and Merle tried to talk the man down.

"As much as I'd love to bail on Mister Fantasy Flamin' Hot Cheetos over here, if we leave now, then we don't get paid. We need that gold, Lu."

"Not bad enough to stay here."

She turned away, trying to see if she could find an explanation for the tight feeling in her chest. It was like she was having a panic attack, which was ridiculous because she'd never had anything like that before. And how would she even know that feeling? She only knew that the sight of that gauntlet was making her feel sick and everything about this situation screamed bad. 

Then Lup looked at Killian and saw the same fear reflected there. Whatever was happening, she understood. She had seen something like this before and she knew what Lup knew, whatever that was. No. Lup knew exactly what she and Killian both knew. This gauntlet was dangerous and none of them should be anywhere near it. Hell, it probably should've just been left in that damn vault. Her grip on the umbrella in her hand tightened and she looked at the others just in time to see Gundren starting to glow red-hot and then white. Killian shouted something, turning to run towards the well in the center of town and Lup grabbed Taako by the arm, moving a beat after her. The others were hot on their heels and Lup silently prayed to any god that might hear that they would all get out of this alive. 

The wave of heat that shot over their heads just barely missed Magnus as he was the last one down into the well. They all waited after that, waited for a sound, for any sign of continued danger or renewed safety above. Silence... Silence... The silence stretched on and on until Magnus finally pulled himself back up. The rest of them heard as he swore under his breath and then pulled himself the rest of the way back to ground level.

"Well, Maggie, what's going on up there?" Taako called up, reaching to help boost Lup up.

Magnus didn't respond right away and when he did, his voice sounded choked.

"Glass. It's... it's all glass."

Lup got a hand on the edge of the well and tossed her umbrella out before pulling herself out.

"What the hell is that- ?" _supposed to mean._

That was how the sentence should have ended. Instead, her words faded as she turned and turned and turned and saw only black glass where the town of Phandalin had once stood. There was nothing left to show that there had ever been a thriving town here, no signs of the people that had been here. And there had been so many people. Lup's hands were shaking as she picked her umbrella up and hugged it against her chest. Then she felt Taako's hand on her arm and turned.

"Come on, Lu. We need to get gone before anything else happens."

They didn't end up hitting the road, at least not like they had before. Instead, Killian had taken them all to a secret base on the moon and introduced them to the Director of the Bureau of Balance. There was a trial, an initiation, the giving of bracers, and an orientation with maps and a brand new dorm room. For Lup and Taako, it was a place to rest their heads and a job that might last more than a few months. 

And of course, there were the perks. Perks that included access to magic items after their first successful mission. Sure, they came out of a giant fantasy gachapon machine and Taako wouldn't stop harassing the gnome in charge of the damn thing, but magic items were magic items. And now Lup was laying on the top bunk, considering the thin metal circlet that had popped out of it today for her. The band of telepathy, they'd called it. It was an interesting prospect. And it would definitely let her and Taako get up to way more shenanigans if they played it right. And some truly impressive scams. It would be something fun to fall back on if this whole Reclaimer thing fell through. But first, she had to attune the damn thing and actually put it on.

And for some reason, she kept hesitating. Finally, she rolled onto her stomach and stared at the umbrastaff where it hung off the headboard of the bed. Maybe she should cast an identify. Just to be absolutely sure this thing did what they said it did. Or maybe she should wait until someone else was here before she tried it on so she could test it out. Or maybe...

Or maybe she was just making excuses because she was nervous about the idea of letting someone else potentially overhear her private thoughts. Even Taako. That maybe Taako would find out about the nightmares she'd been hiding from him or the feeling like there was still something missing even after having been inoculated. Like there was a hole in her chest and she didn't know how to fill it, like half of her heart was just gone. 

Closing her eyes, she took a breath and jammed the circlet on before taking a moment to adjust it, feeling sort of silly. Then she froze, her ears flared wide as a voice broke into her thoughts.

_'Lup? Lup, is that really you?'_

She looked around, frantically trying to figure out who's thoughts she might be picking up. There shouldn't have been anyone. She was alone, unless there was someone invisible in here. But there shouldn't have been. She and Taako couldn't cast anything like that yet, not really, so it couldn't be him. And if there was someone here invisible, they would still need to open the door. And anyway, why would someone playing a joke on her say something weird like that?

"Uh... hell yeah, my guy. It's me, Lup. Same as always. Who uh... who're you?"

And then her mind was flooded with static.

Lup tore the circlet off, wincing at the sudden pain behind her eyes. She squeezed them shut and flung the circlet to the other end of the bed. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong, and she had no way of knowing what. Because either that item worked exactly how they said it did and the Voidfish didn't or the Voidfish worked exactly the way they said it did and the band of telepathy didn't. Either way, the Bureau of Balance was lying about something. And she had no way to prove it.


	2. Rockport, the Rockport Limited

The thing was, she had to put the damn circlet back on eventually. It was supposed to help them on missions, give her a way to plan with Magnus and Merle as easily as she planned with Taako. And it wasn't like there was a way she could really explain to Taako that she'd put it on and suddenly had some voice talking in her head with no obvious person around to be supplying it. At least he hadn't piped up again, whoever the hell he was. So maybe it was just someone on the moon base. That was entirely possible, she thought as Merle did the talking to get them onto the train they were supposed to be riding for this nice simple mission. One whole-ass fetch quest that even their group couldn't manage to fuck up. After Phandalin, this would be a relief. 

Hopefully, they could retrieve the Oculus without anyone dying and she could just spend a few hours relaxing on a nice train ride with a book she'd grabbed from the Bureau library. It was a sappy romance, but at least it was proven to be a well-written sappy romance. And she was like eighty percent sure of the leads was a vampire, so that was points in its favor. They settled into their seats and she tucked the umbrastaff in beside her. The boys had been disarmed, sure, but hopefully they wouldn't need their weapons. If they did, though, she would just have to manage. Until then, book time while Taako people-watched. It was almost like when they were kids in the back of a wagon traveling from place to place but with more food and comfier seats.

The whistle on the engine sounded and the train lurched forward, picking up speed slowly as it went down the track. Lup reclined and flipped her book open. Moonlit stroll through the cemetery? Oh this guy was absolutely a vampire, no two ways around it.

Some time later, with Taako leaned against her half asleep and Magnus and Merle gone to harass some poor nerd kid who absolutely did not deserve it, Lup turned the page only to be startled by a voice in her mind once more. It was the same gravelly thought-voice she'd heard before, the one that sounded almost familiar but not enough that she could place it.

_"Lup, I know... I know you probably don't want me to talk to you again after last time, but you feel that right? The magic? I can feel it in-- I can feel it where I am. That's necromancy and it doesn't feel like anything good. I think--"_

Before her mystery buddy could say more about what he thought, someone on the train screamed. Taako jumped to his feet, suddenly wide awake, and Lup grabbed the handle of the umbrastaff, looking around. She half expected to see something obvious, something big and flashy and magic. Something necromantic if... if whoever that was was right. But that scream hadn't come from in this car. She saw the little boy take off at a run towards the sound of the screams, Magnus hot on his heels, and ran after both of them, grabbing her brother's arm as she moved.

"Come on, Ko. We need to catch up with the others."

* * *

The scene they came upon was a far cry from anything Lup could have expected and she pulled up short, looking the scene over. Someone was laying dead on the floor and a second person lay unmoving. The only reason she could be certain of the status of one of them was the lack of head and hands. That and the fact that someone was trying to rouse the other figure. Lup glanced at her brother and then at the rest of their teammates. Magnus looked horrified and Merle was quietly praying under his breath. Lup couldn't agree more in that moment.

Then she bit her lower lip. Mystery voice had known something about this before he'd gone all quiet on her. Her jaw tightened slightly, her ears flicking back in discomfort. Then she focused on thinking through the circlet, using the telepathy in it to connect to that particular mind.

_"Hey babe, I don't suppose this is what you were talking about, was it? Because this doesn't look like necromancy or even magic. Looks more like this cat lost a fight with a guillotine."_

There was a beat of silence before a sound almost like a derisive snort in her mind. Then she heard that voice pipe up again.

_"That sure as shit ain't necromancy. No, the necromancy isn't near you exactly. But it's not getting further away either. It feels more like... more like someone trying to grow a construct or something. I don't suppose you've seen anything like that, have you?"_

Lup frowned slightly. Growing a construct? That sounded like some straight up fantasy horror movie bullshit. She knew it could be done though. Then she looked back at the body on the floor and its complete lack of hands. If you could grow a construct from a small sample of flesh, what could you do with two hands and a head? Add that to the 'hopefully don't find out' list then. Although given their track record and the fact that the relic was on the train with them, odds were that they were going to end up finding out.

"Hey Ko? Someone should hit up the caboose and make sure the you-know-what is still good."

Taako looked over at her, ears flicked back and one eyebrow arched expressively.

"Volunteering me much, Lu? Sure, I'll go check on shit. Means I get to spend less time with the Headless Wonder over there." He paused for a moment and then looked at the little boy that had followed them and was looking down at the corpse with fascination on his small face. "And while I do that, you get to field the half-pint."

Lup looked down at the boy beside her and then sighed.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it, Ko." She grabbed the boy by the back of his tidy little school boy jacket and hauled him out of the room before looking him over. He couldn't have been more than ten, she was pretty sure. Maybe a little older. It was hard to be sure with humans. "S'up, Short Stack, good instincts on the running to help but you need to be at least half a foot taller before you get to deal with real-ass murders. You got me?"

The boy looked up at her from behind his thick glasses and frowned slightly, standing to his full height.

"I'll have you know, Ma'am, I'm a detective on assignment from Rockport and that murder is part of my case."

Lup blinked once and then twice and then a third time before she sat on one of the benches and gestured for him to sit opposite her.

"Detective. Okay, Fantasy Nancy Drew, spill. And then maybe I'll let you back into your crime scene."

At the same, she focused on the mental link and gave it a little tap.

_"I don't suppose you can hear this kid, can you?"_

The boy sat, arms crossed over his chest, and she raised an eyebrow a little at the bowtie he was wearing. This was a real fancy boy then. He sighed a little when she said nothing else and he pulled out his notepad.

"My name is Angus McDonald, Ma'am. And I'm on the hunt for a thief and murderer called the Rockport Slayer. He's been killing people in the city of Rockport and stealing their valuables. I came on the case recently and I have reason to believe he got on this train, Ma'am. He's extremely cunning and dangerous."

_"Yeah, mostly. It goes in and out a little. They seriously let some kid hunt a killer? What is wrong with this world?"_

There was a moment there where Lup genuinely didn't know which thing she was hearing was stranger, the way her telepathic friend said 'this world' like he wasn't from here or the fact that this toddler was apparently solving crime. She drummed her fingers on her thigh for a moment before she reached for the notebook Angus was holding out.

"So... you learn all this forensics shit in kindergarten or... ?"

Angus narrowed his eyes, glaring up at her.

"You're not as funny as you think you are, Ma'am. I'm eleven."

Well, that probably wasn't a toddler in human terms. Lup wasn't entirely sure how to classify an eleven year old but given that most humans called their adolescents 'teenagers' and he was almost that, then he was probably not too young. Which made detectiving pretty reasonable.

"Fine, fine, I'll drop the jokes. But what's this guy's MO? This Rockport Slayer, does he always behead and behand his victims or is this one something new?"

Angus explained it all fairly quickly. Multiple methods of murder but always a theft, that was the common thread. That and periodically missing body parts. And whoever it was had started in Rockport, by all accounts. The oddest part of it was that the Rockport Slayer seemed to be able to find out about secret things, hidden valuable things, the sorts of things that people wouldn't just go talking about even with their friends. That worried Lup some but not nearly as much as the missing body parts. 

_"So, does that sound as much like a necromancer to you as it does to me?"_

When the response came, her mystery friend sounded mildly frustrated.

_"It sounds like a thief and serial killer who might also happen to be practicing some highly unethical necromancy, but sure, I'll give you that it does sound more than a little bit like necromancy. At the very least, it sounds like someone who might know how to animate construct or potentially cast a clone spell, though that second one isn't going to do them a whole lot of good if they don't have a means of animating the body."_

Well. So her friend who was seriously going to need to give her a name to call him soon also happened to know more than just a little bit about necromancy. And he was smug about it. Interesting. There was a nagging worry in the back of her head that she might be dealing with a lich, which would certainly explain why she could never find him, but... No, that was just ridiculous. Why would a lich be following her around?

"I can think of a few reasons your perp might be taking those body parts. If I'm right on any of those counts and he's not just a creep collecting trophies, then you're going to want some help on this. Unless, of course, you're also a prodigy with magic."

Angus shook his head slightly. Then his gaze flicked to the umbrastaff held casually in her hand and back up at her face.

"But you're a wizard, right? And so is your brother?"

She nodded, resting the umbrastaff on her shoulder.

"Right and right. And I'm pretty sure you're looking for a wizard too. Which is... Well, it raises some questions about the method of murder. Because if I wanted someone dead, I would just drop a fireball on them and let Sehanine Moonbow sort out the rest."

 _"Glad to know some things never change_."

The tone was strangely fond and Lup decided to ignore the comment. Thinking more about it would only leave her confused and probably frustrated. Like just about everything else about this strange friend of hers.

_"Hey, babe? What the hell should I be calling you because cha'girl needs something shorter that 'my weird friend who talks in my head', you know?"_

She heard a sound like soft laughter and it was quiet for a moment. Then she heard his voice again.

_"Barry. You can call me Barry."_


	3. Chapter 3

_"Barry, huh? Rad. Well, I've got a big ask for you there, Barrence. Think you can try to locate this necromantic signature while I try and do the same? Because if Short Stack here really is tracking some serial killer necromancer, I think we both know everyone is better off if I find him than if Ango does."_

Angus was looking up at her oddly and Lup did her best to keep her expression casual. What did it look like when she was using telepathy, anyway? At least Angus hadn't said anything about her make faces or talking to herself, so that was alright. 

"Ma'am, I hate to tell you this, but dropping a fireball on them is probably a murder and that means it's illegal. It might even be arson too."

He looked so genuinely worried by the idea that she almost laughed. For the briefest moment, she had a memory of baseball sliding into a building, a wand in each hand, while it burned around her. She couldn't quite place when it had happened but it was one heck of an image. Maybe she should add that to the bucket list. Assuming, of course, that they all survived the job that was supposed to be too simple for them to fail.

"It's fine, little man. I've got spell shaping." Then she stood, moving back towards the compartment where the others were working on solving a murder. "Come on, we've got work to do."

_"I'll try. Things are a little hard from where I am, but I'll do my best. And... Lup? At least try and be careful, alright?"_

That was the second time Barry had said something that led Lup to believe he wasn't just someone near her. Which, she was pretty sure, wasn't how this circlet was supposed to work. That fact was mildly worrying but it was a problem for future Lup. Right now, she had a necromancer to find, a murder to solve, and a job to finish. 

_"Don't worry about me, my guy. I've got back up."_

* * *

She and Taako got back to the scene of the crime at the same moment and she looked her brother over curiously. His expression was tight, ears flicked back. It wasn't that something was wrong, not exactly. But something beyond the obvious corpse situation was bothering him. Then he saw Angus trailing behind her and the actual serious expression gave way to one of his mock-serious ones. He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning around Lup to look at the little boy.

"What part of 'deal with the shrimp' wasn't clear?"

Lup sighed a little and sidestepped to let Angus pass.

"Kid's a badge-carrying narc, Ko. Like an actual honest to the gods cop."

Angus looked up at Taako with a little sigh.

"I'm a detective, Sir. Not a cop." He gestured towards the body on the floor. "And this is part of my case."

Taako snorted a laugh and leaned against the wall.

"So you're a professional narc. Got it."

Angus rolled his eyes and knelt down to examine the scene. Lup walked over to stand next to her brother, keeping her voice low as she spoke.

"So, find anything out of place?"

Taako shook his head. 

"Nada. The caboose was exactly like we left it when we put our shit in it." Then he paused, a frown crossing his face. "It was magic as shit though. Like the wholeass caboose was enchanted and I don't remember it being like that."

Lup's ears flicked back and she exhaled slowly, trying to figure out what that could possibly mean.

"Okay... Magic as shit caboose, murdered dude with no hands... murdered dude who works for the train. So could he have opened the safe?"

It was Angus that responded from where he was kneeling by the body.

"No, Ma'am. Only the engineer can do that. Jenkins wouldn't be able to do it on his own. And neither could someone with his hands. I already thought about that motive."

That gave Lup pause and she glanced towards the front of the train. They were still chugging along at the same speed, with no apparent problems. But still...

"Someone talk to the engineer. Make sure he's good. I'm gonna go check out the caboose myself. No doubting you or anything, Ko. Just want to have a look for myself."

And have a chat with Barry about all of this, but she wasn't going to say that part out loud. 

* * *

Lup ducked into the caboose and took a breath. First thing was first. She gave the whole room a once over, trying to figure out what Taako had been talking about. Then she winced as the magical signature surrounding her practically assaulted her senses. Magic as shit was putting it mildly. The entire room was overlaid in what felt like one continuous spell. The question was, what was it doing. Lup hummed to herself softly, trying to work through the signals she was getting. It felt like it was probably conjuration and not the abjuration she was expecting, which made it even more confusing. Protective spells almost universally fell under the abjuration school. That would make sense. Conjuration could imply all kinds of things though.

"I don't suppose you've got any thoughts up in here, Barold."

There was a longer pause than she was used to and for and a moment there, Lup wondered if maybe they'd gotten out of range of her telepathy friend. Then he answered, sounding oddly embarrassed or maybe amused? It was hard to tell with just a voice.

_"Well uh... It feels like you're in a pocket dimension. It was a little harder to get through than normal. Did you go somewhere?"_

Lup blinked and looked around again. A pocket dimension? That could certainly explain the magical signatures she was seeing but why the hell would the caboose be a pocket dimension. Unless...

Unless the killer had taken Jenkins' wand, the one he used to access the Pleasure Room. Unless the killer had used it to create a facsimile of the caboose. Unless she was actually in that facsimile and the killer was probably in the actual caboose and...

"Babe, we have one hell of a problem." Then she remembered the added complication they'd found earlier. "Can you still pick up that necromancy signature?"

She was combing over the magic she could detect, trying to find out if there was a way to get to another layer, to locate what was outside this pocket dimension. But there was nothing else. All she could sense was conjuration, conjuration and more conjuration. Not a whiff of necromancy anywhere.

_"Nothing. Step outside the pocket dimension and try then?"_

With a shrug, she stepped back outside the door and closed her eyes, stretching out with her senses. 

"Well shit."

It was right there, practically in reach except not and still pretty well overwhelmed by conjuration energies.

_"That's definitely one way of putting it._

Lup needed to figure out how the hell to get into the caboose other than the door as fast as she possibly could. That was probably going to need Taako. Maybe Magnus to do the actual punch boy things. And she would grab Merle and the kid too, get them something that looked like authority. If you averaged the two of them, you would probably get an adult. 

_"Yeah, I've got it pretty strong. Definitely some sort of uh... construct or simulacrum type spellwork in action. Not very well done. It's sloppy as shit, but it'll get the job done."_

Lup nearly jumped when she heard Barry's voice in her mind again. He sounded genuinely concerned and her ears flicked back slightly. 

"Are you seriously judging the skill level of my necromancer serial killer, babe?" Then she shook her head. "Nevermind. I need to figure out how to get to the actual caboose so a serial killer doesn't get their hands on some high tier world-ending shit a-s-a-p."

It was quiet for a long moment while Lup moved back through the train cars to get to the rest of the group, to find help. Then she heard Barry again, his mental voice somehow more quiet.

_"You mean one of the Relics, don't you? Shit... this is..."_

His words faded into static and Lup winced, ears pressed back tight against her head. That was the second time he'd done that, the second time he'd said something she couldn't hear despite being a Reclaimer, despite having drank the nasty fish juice the Director had up on the moon. Which meant that somehow, her buddy Barold knew shit she couldn't. Well, that was suspicious and vaguely frustrating and absolutely not a problem she could solve while she was stuck on a train with a murderer. She threw it on her ever-increasing todo list and burst back into the car where the rest of the Reclaimers were.

"Hey Mags, how do you feel about rappelling down the side of a moving train probably into an enclosed space with a murderer?"

Magnus perked up and for half a second Lup would've sworn the man looked like a puppy.

"I'm in!"

While the rest of the group worked on hammering out the details, Lup stepped back, turning the umbrastaff in her hands while she thought. Then she turned away, looking out the window as she thought a message at Barry.

_"Hey babe? About the static bullshit you keep pulling? As soon as this is over, we're gonna have a chat about that. You got me? And you're also gonna tell me how you know about the Relics."_


End file.
